Condom carrying is not associated with condom use and lower prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases among minority adolescent females

Background. Most of the studies associated with condom carrying and use hav e been conducted with adults. Because minority teenage females are particul arly at risk for STD/HIV infection, further investigations specifically foc using on this population are warranted. Goal. To determine whether observed condom carrying among adolescent female s was associated with multiple measures of self-reported condom use, self-r eported history of sexually transmitted diseases, and prevalence of biologi cally confirmed sexually transmitted diseases. Methods: For this study, 522 sexually active African American adolescent fe males were recruited from low-income neighborhoods in Birmingham, Alabama. Measures of self-reported condom use, STD history, and condom carrying were collected. Adolescents were also tested for three prevalent sexually trans mitted diseases. Results: At the time of the assessment, 8% of the adolescents were observed to have a condom with them. Condom carrying was not found to be significan tly associated with condom use and prevalence of sexually transmitted disea ses. Conclusion: Condom carrying may not be an important outcome of sexually tra nsmitted disease/HIV prevention programs designed to reduce HIV/sexually tr ansmitted disease risk among adolescent females.